Chapter Ten - To See Within
Your hand at the level of your eyes…
Her mother's words echoed in her mind and she raised her arm.
Only to have her wrist seized by strong fingers.
The assault was sudden, but not unexpected. She had known it was coming from the moment she had trespassed in this place.
Still, she screamed…only to have her cry lost as a leather-covered hand pressed against her mouth.
When the sound died in her throat, the hand moved to her neck.
"Close your eyes and do not move," the voice said, close to her ear.
"Understand, Meg Giry, that if you disobey me," he said in a low voice, "I will not spare you. Not even for your mother's sake."
She did as he asked, closed her eyes tightly and remained still as his grip on her relaxed. She hardly dared to take a breath as she felt him step away from her.
"You may open your eyes, Mademoiselle."
She opened them and found herself looking up at the Opera Ghost.
His mask seem to have a life of its own as he stood before her in the dim and shifting light.
His gray-green eyes seemed to look beyond her own…to see within.
His white shirt was half-opened and his arms were folded across his chest. There was something so powerful, so very masculine about him that Meg found herself blushing despite her fear.
She saw him moisten his lips before addressing her again.
"What are you doing here, little Giry?"
"You know who I am," Meg asked, forgetting for a moment the mysterious return of her gold cross, the strange trust that seemed to exist between this man and her own mother, the picture of herself in a scarlet costume.
"You forget, inquisitive girl, this is my theatre. My Opera."
As he spoke, he turned away from her and bent down to look at an elaborate diorama.
Meg moved a little closer and saw the intricate wax figures dressed in the costumes of the theatre's next production, Il Muto."
She saw Christine as the Countess, Carlotta as the Page, and herself as the Maid.
She looked up at the man beside her, saw his lips curl into a smile half sarcastic and half longing as he adjusted the position of a figurine.
He walked away from her, went down the steps to stand by the water's edge.
"My empire," he said in a mocking voice, opening his arms in a sweeping embrace of his surroundings.
Letting his arms fall abruptly to his sides, he frown at her. The exposed half of his face became as severe as his mask.
"Now, tell me. Why are you here?"
Standing level with him on the stone ledge, she refused to let him frighten her further.
"Are you Christine's Angel," she asked, her voice calmly echoing off the lake.
